Soccer and Gardening

(This is my second post today....first new post below)

(6/9) Sunday.... pigs, plants and rest after the long week. 

The rain was flooding my flats and drowning the plants so I set them in their beds. After that the heat was killing them faster than I could put them in the ground. My yard plus new projects has become more than one person can handle.

(6/10) Monday was soccer practice with Lucas' new team. The team that I absolutely did not want to coach. I've volunteered so much and just wanted to be a spectator this summer. No such luck. No one else stepped up to the plate. On this day I have to run Emily in to town and drop her off 45 minutes early so I can get back to my practice. Then I go back to get her before we get home at 7:45. Now her coach is going to make practice longer so we won't be home until 8:15. Basically soccer eats up Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of each week. My kids love it so I support it, but often wonder what it would be like to take a summer off. 

Tuesday I worked on my beds. Put down newspaper and then covered with wood chips. I don't want to have to spend my days weeding.

I don't really like the light color of the chips, but they are free. Red Cedar would cost me hundreds and hundreds. I'll scrape these off in the fall and stock pile for next year. They should get darker and more grey over time. I like the look of dirt better, but within a week the weeds will choke out my flowers. I finished the Orchid Mist bed.

So ugly with so much to do.

Also finished this Lilac bed....

 ...and a bed of Dahlia's. It really takes a long time as these are big beds.

 ...and a bed of Zinnia and Celosia.

 After a full day of gardening it was time to coach a game.

I spend a lot of time tying shoes.

Lucas trying to tell his teammates where to go for the corner kick. They didn't get it.

 Note how red and sweaty he is and the other kid not so much. Lucas was playing both offense and defense while his teammates weren't really playing. I've got some young players, learning disabled and one that just arrived from an orphanage in Uganda and I'm not how much he understands me (last week was our first meeting). The kid in this photo already quit. *sigh* This is a team I will not miss.

This age the boys come in all sizes and mine is always a little one.

Emily's game was after Lucas'. Why don't I have photos? Because I ended up coaching it. The coach was a no-show. She coached the first game and I ended up filling in and coaching the next 3 games. She was doing practice, but just couldn't make the game???? When I emailed her about taking over the team so I could teach the girls positioning, etc. she told me no and that she was the coach. Well, she's been there ever since (except for canceling practice last night), but still hasn't taught the girls the game... strategy, positioning, etc. Emily is having the time of her life so I guess that's all that really matters so I'm just going to enjoy sitting and watching.